The Start of Hawaii Mini's Adventure!

We’ve just surpassed the one-week milestone in our Hawaii Mini Semester trip, here’s how it went! We began our adventure in the beautiful town of Pahala staying at a Sugar Cane Plantation, full of rich history and scenic views. Natalie and Liz, our instructors, laid out the laws of the land, risk management, and the importance of communication during orientation over the next two days.

In between orientation sessions we got the chance to really get to know each other and form meaningful connections. After the first part of orientation on day two, we explored a black sand beach nearby. This beach is made up of volcanic ash. On day three we went on a group hike to the Green Sand Beach, a beach filled with olivine which casts a green hue across the surface of the sand. This hike set the tone for the hard work that’s expected of all Pacific Discovery students as well as the high reward that follows. Before winding down for the evening we came up with a social contract, a list of guidelines we all agreed to follow in order to maintain a fun and safe environment for the entirety of the session.

After orientation, we began the real adventure. On day four, we spent the morning cleaning up microplastics and fishing nets along the coastline. We ended with fifty pounds of trash, all removed before it could end up in the water and harm our environment. This day was particularly impactful, as we saw a real impact to the work we were doing, and left motivated to reduce our plastic use.

The next two days were spent doing farm work. At Ohana Macadamia Nut Farm, we hung out with farm owner Annie and her kids while they taught us the ins and outs of Mac Nut work. Permaculture is a big part of the farm here – taking care of harvesting to make sure the trees last generations without much water or other natural resources. We did our part for sustainable agriculture by helping to harvest and process Mac Nuts, and learning how to air layer to create new trees that will fruit quickly. We also got to meet many cute animals, including cows, pigs, goats, dogs, and cats! We returned to the farm on day five where we learned how to clean, process, and turn the Mac Nuts into oil! Annie then shared the truth behind labeling and advertising in the food industry. We left the farm with dirt on our hands a new perspective in our minds.

On day six and seven we worked with Imu facilitator and educator James. James taught us what an Imu is, the cultural importance of an Imu, and the many steps it takes to pull the whole thing off. Throughout these two days, we chopped wood, harvested coconuts, gutted a fish, and much more. James told us stories of the first Imu and introduced us to different members of the community who stopped by to offer a helping hand. We added all the materials we gathered and chopped to place them into an underground fire filled with stone. Once the materials were added we covered the fire with plants, wet cloth, and tarps. After a night of cooking a feast was prepared for the whole group to enjoy. We ate fish, pork, breadfruit, purple sweet potatoes, and taro. This process was hard but sacred, it allowed us to experience Hawaiian culture first hand.

This first week was a blast! Our group looks forward to all the adventures to come.

Written by: Liz, Natalie and Students